Dr. Boozman's Check-up

May112016

Iran continues to threaten stability in the Middle East as it amasses a collection of intimidating weapons. The Washington Post reports that earlier this week Russia delivered a S-300 air-defense missile system to Iran, a deal arranged nearly a decade ago.

President Obama’s weak Iran nuclear deal signaled to Russia that it’s acceptable to sell weapons to Iran, so it’s fulfilling the arms deal.

This is extremely dangerous.

This missile defense system has the capability to strike aircraft 120 miles away. As noted by defense analysts Patrick Megahan and Behnam Ben Taleblu, this system has the potential to target our defenses. “Should an S-300 battery be placed on Iran’s southern coast, Tehran could quickly detect American or allied aircraft taking off from local bases,” they wrote in a posting on The Hill’s Congress blog.

In recent months we’ve learned that Iran test fired ballistic missiles, violating a UN Security Council resolution. We cannot trust Iran to follow the rules. That’s why I’m very concerned with this purchase.

As we work to protect our national security we need to keep Iran in check in order to deter violence. The President’s flawed Iran nuclear deal makes this more difficult.

Sanctions imposed on Iran restricted what countries it was able to conduct business with. Those have now been removed and now an influx of money is coming into the country.

Last month, the Obama administration agreed to buy heavy water, a component in creating nuclear weapons, from Iran. Today I voted to block the United States from making this purchase. Unfortunately, there was not enough support from my Senate colleagues.

I’m committed to strict scrutiny of Iran and to restoring sanctions immediately.